Joint report on anti-terror initiative due this month: MHP's Yıldız

ANKARA

A high-level parliamentary commission tasked with overseeing the "terror-free Türkiye" initiative will complete its final report this month, a senior Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) official said on Jan. 6.

"It will start being written in the coming days. We will first agree on the headings, and we would publish this report within this month,” MHP deputy leader Feti Yıldız told reporters in Ankara.

His remarks came shortly before Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş convened representatives from political groups involved in the initiative. Attendees included Abdulhamit Gül of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Murat Emir of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Cengiz Çiçek of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and Bülent Kaya of the New Path bloc.

The National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission has already collected separate reports from the participating parties and will now attempt to synthesize those views into a unified document.

“We will definitely reach an agreement on the report,” Yıldız said prior to the meeting. “The standards are clear. The founding codes of the Turkish Republic are not up for debate. We will sit down and agree within this framework.”

The commission was formed after jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s call last year prompted the terror group to disarm. A first batch of members burned their weapons in July, and the organization said it was withdrawing from Turkish territory in late October.

While the commission’s original mandate was set to expire at the end of 2025, it was granted a two-month extension to finalize its findings. The group has met 20 times, hearing testimony from cabinet ministers, legal experts, civil society organizations and the families of fallen soldiers.

Before the Jan. 6 session, CHP's Emir praised the "constructive" atmosphere among the diverse political factions.

"There are points we still need to work on," Emir said. "We hope we will find the opportunity to draft a joint commission report that will pave the way for justice and the rule of law in Türkiye, while also strengthening democracy and permanently ending terrorism."

A cross-party delegation visited Öcalan on the İmralı prison island on Nov. 24, but members of the CHP and the New Path bloc declined to join the AKP, MHP and DEM Party representatives for the visit.

The İYİ (Good) Party remains the only major political faction to boycott the initiative entirely, refusing to send members to the commission.

The drafting team is scheduled to meet again on Jan. 13 to continue work on the joint document.